Red Hood Reborn
by BrightStar
Summary: While doing a favor for Batman, Chloe looks up his former sidekick to determine if he is currently on the straight and narrow or if he's just playing mind games again.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Red Hood Reborn

Characters: Chloe/Jason Todd

Rating: T

Summary: While doing a favor for Batman, Chloe looks up his former sidekick to determine if he is currently on the straight and narrow. She's not sure what he's up to, but he's acting off, even for him. She's determined to find out if he really has returned to the side of the good guys, or if this is just another head game of his.

AN: Somewhat AU, somewhat comic canon. My muse has been demanding I write a Jason Todd fic after seeing the DC Animated movie _Batman: Under the Red Hood_. Just imagine what a great Jason Todd Jensen Ackles would be.

AN2: Unbeta'd. Any mistakes are mine. If something doesn't make sense or flow right, let me know and I'll fix it. Thanks!

Chloe looked around her. Gotham City was just as she remembered it; dark, gritty and imposing. She loved it when League business brought her here. It meant that the Bat couldn't do everything by himself. Whenever he called into Watchtower for help, she always got a giddy feeling in her heart.

She shook herself out of her reverie and mentally went over what she was here to do. Batman had asked her to look into what the Red Hood was doing. He had resurfaced and his behavior was worrisome.

She knew his background with Bruce. Jason Todd was the second Robin. After Joker brutally beat him to death he was resurrected when reality shifted because of Superboy-Prime, he woke up buried in his own coffin. Having lived through the experience of being buried alive, Chloe felt a strange kinship to him.

After the Hush incident, Bruce tried to keep track of him knowing that he was a time bomb waiting to go off. When he surfaced in Gotham fighting crime, but refusing to talk to anyone from the Bat-Family, Bruce decided to call in backup in the form of Watchtower. He hoped Chloe would be able to communicate with Jason and find out what his agenda was.

It had been several years since Chloe had met Jason. He was still a teenage sidekick to Bruce's Batman. She had been Watchtower for a couple of years and was intrigued by the intensity he brought to fighting crime. That was right before the Joker incident.

She'd gone to the funeral and mourned a life lost too early. When Bruce contacted her and told her Jason was alive, she nearly laughed out loud. She knew that kid would be able to cheat death. There was just something in him that called to her. Maybe it had been her inability to heal him that intrigued her the first time Bruce brought him to her after a particularly rough night in Gotham.

She knew when he came back he was changed. Who wouldn't be after being pulled from what you believed to be Heaven, only to wake up buried in a coffin? That was enough to put anybody in therapy for years.

All Jason wanted was revenge and answers as to why Bruce didn't avenge him. He eventually was able to come to terms with Bruce's actions, but then he dropped off the radar and nobody could find him. So when he showed up in Gotham City, crime fighting again, but with a more brutal style than he had ever had.

Now Chloe was standing outside her hotel contemplating what the best course of action would be. _How to get the Red Hood's attention without committing a crime. Hmmm ,I guess I'll just go stake out the Narrows,_ she thought. Worst thing that could happen was that she could practice some of her archery skills. Never hurt to keep her hand in the business of crime fighting.

She chose a rooftop near Crime Alley. She knew most of the Bat-Family had past history with that particular section of town. She settled in for a wait, with her binoculars and her various weapons that she was comfortable with.

She didn't have to wait long before a mugging caught her attention below her. She fired her zipline into the building across the street at enough of a decline to get to street level without splattering her against the sidewalk. She dropped off the zipline and landed on the mugger as he pulled out a knife. He hit his head on the concrete and was soon unconscious. The frightened woman clutched her bag to her and murmured a quiet thank you before turning on her heel and running into the next building.

She thought about tying up the would be mugger, but that would take time away from her stakeout, so she walked into the alley and scaled the fire escape to resume her perch on the roof. Before the night was over, she stopped 2 more muggings, a convenience store robbery and kept a street urchin from steeling the hubcaps off a parked car.

She was glad that she had left her bike on the other side of the river. She would be seriously pissed off if something happened to her baby. She was just thinking she would call it a night and come back tomorrow night when clapping hands behind her caught her attention.

"Well done," he said as he stepped out of the shadows of the rooftop. "You managed to stop more petty crime with a minimum of bloodshed. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Looking for you, actually." She said casually. "I like the new look by the way. Black leather is definitely you. That outfit you were sporting as Red Robin made you look like Dr. Midnight. And really, who names themselves after a burger restaurant?" she quipped.

"What do you want Chloe? Did 'Dad' send you here? If I wanted to talk to the Big Bad Bat I know the number."

"He's just worried about you Jason. So am I. After what happened with Dick, I've been worried. You disappeared for months! Even I wasn't able to find you. And we both know I can find anybody."

Chloe looked at him closely. Something was different. Something had changed him. He still presented that tough as nails exterior, but something in his eyes was different.

"What happened Jason? Why are you back? And protecting the people of Gotham again? You said you were done being a hero when you felt that Bruce had failed you. What changed? I'm just trying to figure out what side you are on and if Bruce is going to ask me to take you down. I sincerely hope that isn't the case." Chloe realized that she had been rambling when he quirked a smirk at her.

"Let's just say, I got a glimpse of what Fate had in store for me and I didn't like it. I decided to take Fate into my own hands and rewrite my destiny," he told her. "Now if you are finished playing in my backyard, you can come back to my bunker and I'll tell you about it and then you can toddle off to the Man and report what you found out. Your choice."

"Not much of a choice, Hood. If I want to have something to tell him, I guess you've got me where you want me. Lead on MacDuff. And this better not be a ploy to get me naked. I remember that time you 'appropriated' those prototype x-ray goggles from Cadmus so you could check out all the female leaguers in their birthday suits."

He chuckled at her as he was reminded of that memory. He rubbed his ribs as he remembered how sore they were when Wonder Woman got done tossing him around.

"You wish, Blondie. With as little as all those chits wear, it doesn't leave much to the imagination. Now are you coming or not? I've got better things to do that hangout on roof tops all night"

_I'm going to regret this, aren't I?_ _Bruce is so going to owe me for this._ She thought as she followed him across the rooftop and dropped down onto the fire escape and into the alley below. She spotted his bike in the shadows and followed him to it. As he climbed on it he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Climb aboard. We're burning time, and it's a precious commodity."

As she climbed behind him on the black Ducati, she shook her head and thought _I'm already regretting this. Bruce is buying me a new bike for this._ Jason revved the engine and with a squeal of the tires they were gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Red Hood Reborn

Summary: See chapter one

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own. Don't sue.

AN: After my husband read the first chapter, he was unhappy with how Jason Todd was portrayed. So this chapter is my attempt to rectify that impression. Hopefully through the next few chapters all will become clear and characters will be less OOC. Reviews are always welcome, Thanks!

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Chapter Two

Chloe struggled to get her eyes to open. As she tried to clear her vision she attempted to remember what happened. She felt someone slap her cheeks. Hard. The first hit brought her completely into consciousness. The second made her angry.

She could taste the salty, metallic tang of blood in her mouth and ran her tongue over her lips and teeth. She felt the split lip, but she still had all of her teeth. The ache in her head was turning into a dull throb as she started to take inventory of her body.

As her sight cleared, she tried to shake the cobwebs from her mind and found she couldn't move her head. When she realized this she tried to move her hands, then her feet, only to discover she was completely bound to the chair she was sitting in.

She started to panic. What happened to her? What was she doing? And then she remembered. _Jason. Bruce was right. He's lost his mind. Or he never came back with it fully intact._ She thought to herself. _Great, I'm trapped in the hide out of a League of Assassins trained maniac. Not only that, but nobody knows where I am. Smooth Chlo, real smooth._

Just as she was considering yelling for help, she felt breath on her ear and someone grab her face.

"Nice to see you a member of the fully awake Ms. Sullivan. Now do you mind telling me exactly what your real mission is? You know as well as I do, Batman doesn't care what I do as long as I don't kill anyone. And surely you don't believe you alone could have taken me on," He spoke into her ear.

"Don't bother yelling for help either. Nobody will hear you. And even if they did, they wouldn't care"

"What did you do to me Jason?" Chloe asked with a scowl.

"You mean you don't remember? I'm shocked. You walked right into my ruse without even calling it in. I simply chose to use the means I had at my disposal to render you incapable of signaling for help. You may not have noticed yet, but I have striped you of any and all tricks or gadgets you may have had on your person," he smirked at her.

"What do you plan on doing with me Jason?" she asked.

"I plan on using you for leverage. _Watchtower,_" he stated. "As long as I have you in my care, not a single member of your precious League is going to interfere with my plan. Now I won't have to worry about Superman or Green Lantern sticking his uptight nose in my business. I'll have to send Bruce a 'Thank You' for sending you to investigate. Would flowers be too much?"

"You're keeping me here? Damn it Jason! Let me go. They will find me. As soon as I don't check in at the appointed time, they will start looking for me, and they WILL find me," She told him through clenched teeth.

"Oh, are you referring to this handy little tracking chip?" he asked holding up the device in a pair of tweezers. "You know they really should have imbedded it in a much more secure place. The top of the wrist is terribly accessible you know."

She glanced down at her had to see the bandage there. _Crap. Now what? _She thought.

"Superman will find me. It'll take him MINUTES, you asshole," she ground out through clenched teeth.

"How?" he asked, full blown grin affixed to his face. "You mean he has suddenly developed the ability to see though lead? Do you know how many lead lined buildings there are in Gotham? Quite a few actually. It was one of the selling points of this particular spot."

"Now, I'm going out for a while. Try not to scream yourself hoarse." He smirked at her as he walked past.

She closed her eyes and grimaced. _Think Chloe! You're the JLAs Watchtower for God's sake. You're smarter than this douche bag. Think!_

"Have a nice day Ms. Sullivan. Try not to miss me too much."

"I will figure out what your game is Jason Todd. And when I get out of here, the JLA is going to take you down and anyone working with you. I promise you that," she glared at him fiercely.

"Spunky, I like that in a woman."


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Red Hood Reborn

Summary: See Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my ideas, and even those aren't worth much.

AN: So here it is. Sorry for the long wait. I knew what I wanted to do, but not how to do it. I'm still not sure it turned out the way I would like, but I hope you enjoy it.

~~o~~ ~~o~~ ~~o~~ ~~o~~

Chapter Three

Chloe woke up in the same stark room that she had been in for 2 weeks. A windowless 10x10 square with gray walls and a cot bolted to the floor. Her single light source a bulb on the ceiling was her only way of telling if it was night or day, and for all she knew Red Hood was screwing with her mind and switching the two. She wouldn't put it past him.

She heard footsteps leading up to her prison and sat up as the door opened.

"Room service!" He exclaimed.

She just scowled at him. His idea of room service was not that bad, but it wasn't that great either. A sausage and egg biscuit for breakfast, a burger for lunch and a burger for dinner. Bleah. When she got out of here, she was never touching fast food again.

"You know, if you keep feeding me this crap I'm gonna get fat. Or have a heart attack. Then what use would I be to you?" she snarked at him.

He just rolled his eyes at her and threw the food at her cot.

"It seems to me Ms Sullivan that your 'heroes' have forgotten about you. Didn't you say they would come for you? I do know that Batman at least is still looking for you. He seems to be the only one though. Some sort of intergalactic crisis and all of your little playmates took off and forgot about you. How sad."

"What exactly do you want Jason? What game are you playing?" she asked. She was getting tired of sitting in this room with nothing to do. It was driving her stir crazy.

"What makes you think I'm playing a game with you? Maybe I just like to pick off parts of the bat-family and see how Bruce reacts. Although, as soon as you outlive your usefulness, maybe I will play a game with you. We could play 'Doctor' and I could find out what happens to a meta with the ability to heal when you remove her heart. It would be a wonderful case study, don't you think?" he sneered at her from the doorway.

Chloe looked at him wide-eyed and startled. Why did that sound so familiar? She would have to think about it after he left, because him staring at her from the door with an almost childish glee at the thought of cutting her up made her a little nervous.

"You wouldn't have the skill or nerve to do something like that Jason. Quit threatening me and tell me what it is you intend to do with me! I've been here for over 2 weeks. You can't keep me here indefinitely. I will find a way out," she ground out these words through clenched teeth with straining at the shackle attached to her ankle.

"Oh you are a spitfire, aren't you? It's no wonder Green Arrow kept you around for all of those years. You must be a wildcat in the bedroom. Maybe we'll explore that a little later. For now, try not to hurt yourself. We wouldn't want you to be sick if I decided to play 'Doctor' with you. You're chances of survival would greatly diminish." And with those parting words he stepped out of the doorframe and shut the door.

_What the hell did he mean about playing 'Doctor' and cutting me up? Ugh! Why does that sound so familiar?_ Chloe pondered these things while she ate her breakfast. She would have to try and recall what was nagging at the back of her mind and the best way to do that was to meditate on it.

After she did a few breathing exercises Chloe assumed the position Bruce had taught her for retrieving old memories through meditation. She sat on the floor in front of her cot and cleared her mind of her worries about Red Hood and what he might do to her and focused on the key words she was trying to remember. _Doctor, Heart, Batman…_ The information was in her brain somewhere, she just had to unlock the file.

She sat there motionless for what felt like hours before her eyes popped open and she said a single word.

"Hush."

~~o~~ ~~o~~ ~~o~~ ~~o~~

_That was why his words were so familiar_! She recalled reading Batman's file on what happened to Selina Kyle, Catwoman. Hush had kidnapped Catwoman and removed her heart in an effort to take over the Wayne fortunes. Using his skills as a surgeon he had his face surgically altered to look like Bruce Wayne. Batman eventually recovered Selina's heart and stopped Hush. With Catwoman's help they were able to secure Hush in a safe house to keep him from revealing the secret identities of the Bat-family.

That was the last anyone heard from Tommy Elliot. She thought he was still locked up in that safe house. How had he escaped? What was he planning? She really hoped he didn't intend to do a repeat performance on her. She only hoped help would get here in time.

~~o~~ ~~o~~ ~~o~~ ~~o~~

It was another two weeks after her fateful conversation with Red Hood that revealed to here that he was indeed Tommy Elliot, not Jason Todd. He congratulated her on figuring out his ruse. She still didn't know what the endgame was, but at least she knew this wasn't Jason. She would just have to adjust her thinking from mentally-unstable-former-superhero to mentally-unstable-former-surgeon-with-an-intense-hatred-for-all-things-Bat-related. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire. Yeesh.

After that conversation with Hush 2 weeks ago she started doing as much training and physical activity in her cell as possible. She knew the only way she was ever going to get out of here was with a little muscle and a lot of ingenuity. Maybe if he ever did follow through with the idea of operating on her, she would be able to get the drop on him or at least snag a weapon of some kind.

She meditated every day, did push-ups, sit-ups and yoga to keep her body fit. She was in the middle of her morning meditation when she heard the first noises.

Her head popped up at the sound of loud crashing off in the distance. _What the hell was that?_ She thought. She carefully rose from her seated position and moved towards the door. Her chain wouldn't allow her all the way there, but she got pretty close. There was more banging and crashes as well as some yelling, but nothing she could make out from her spot 2 feet away from the door.

Suddenly the noise stopped and she heard echoing footsteps coming down the hall. She took a few steps back from the door and crouched in a defensive posture. _Oliver would be so proud to know his training of me wasn't all in vain. I do remember some of it._ She allowed herself a small smile at the memory of her time as Ollie's 'Sidekick.' He'd trained her well in self-defense and archery. She shook herself out of her reverie as the door began to open.

A shadowy figure stepped into the doorway and looked into her cell.

"Well if it isn't our friendly Watchtower! I wondered who that imposter had here that was keeping all his attention. I wonder what I should do with you? He asked her.

"Jason? Is that really you?" she asked. She looked at him with narrowed eyes unsure whether to trust her instincts that this was not Tommy Elliot and was really Jason Todd. "What was the first thing you said to me when we met?"

"If I recall correctly I told you to get your bony-blond ass away from me. Ah good times." He growled at her.

"Oh, thank god! It's really you." She stood up from her defensive posture and relaxed. "Unchain me so we can get out of here and get on with the rescue."

"What makes you think I'm here to rescue you? I just came to beat the shit out of that imposter and be on my way. Then I got curious as to what was in this hall and found you. I should just leave you here to rot."

He turned in the doorway as if to leave before stopping and saying, "Or, I could take you with me and Batman would owe me one. Hell, the Justice League would owe me one for saving the Watchtower. Hmmm, I wonder which I'll decide to do?"

"Jason, you have to get me out of here. Hush is going to cut out my heart if you don't. Please." She strained at her shackle. Watching his back trying to read his mood. If she could just play on his sympathies, if he had any left, she just might get out of here.

"It's such a tough decision. I'd really rather not listen to you whine at me while I choose," he told her as he turned around.

As he stood there facing her he brought up his gun and pointed at her. She closed her eyes and prayed it would be quick. When no shot came after a few seconds she peeked open one eye only to come face to face with Jason Todd a few inches from her.

"Aww, come on, you don't really think I'd shoot you do you? Not when this is much more satisfying."

She looked up questioningly into his face before the blow to her head knocked her unconscious.

"You know I've always been a more 'hands-on' kinda guy Chloe." He smirked at her lifeless body. "Heh. Watchtower, offline."

~~o~~ ~~o~~ ~~o~~ ~~o~~


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Red Hood Reborn Chapter 4

Summary: See Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my ideas, and even those aren't worth much.

Chloe felt someone nudge her shoulder. In the distance she could hear cars driving past. All she wanted to do was roll over and get five more minutes of sleep. The poke to her shoulder came again.

'Ugh. Why can't the boys let me sleep in once in a while?' she thought to herself.

Then she remembered. She hadn't seen any of her 'boys' in almost a month. The reality of her situation woke her the rest of the way up and she tried to sit up.

"Aggghhh! Too fast! Sat up too fast!" she muttered, grasping her head. Once the pounding in her brain tappered down a bit she looked around her. She was in a regular looking room. Or at least as regular as it got in Gotham. Peeling wallpaper, water stains on the ceiling, and nasty looking carpet.

She was mildly surprised she wasn't tied, cuffed or chained to anything. 'Who would've believed Jason could be so trusting?' she thought to herself.

She gingerly got off the bed she had been sleeping on and padded over to the door. She listened for any noises coming from outside the room. Hearing none, she carefully turned the knob. The room let out into a dimly lit hallway. Based on the lighting, she guessed it was sometime in the early evening.

She crept down the hall, checking each room as she passed. There were only two. One was a bathroom and the other was another equally dilapidated bedroom. She passed through the hall with no problems and entered what looked like a kitchen/dining room/living room set up. The place was pretty bare bones. Like one of those pre-furnished cheap apartments in the seedier section of Gotham. 

There didn't appear to be anybody else in the place. She looked around and entered the kitchen, if it could be called that. Merely a sink and stove on one end of the room. She noticed a piece of paper on the counter next to the sink.

Chloe picked it up and read it.

_You owe me_

'Short and sweet, how very like Jason. Now to get out of here and back to civilization.' Chloe thought. First step, contact Bruce.

"Wayne Enterprises, how may I direct your call?" answered the receptionist.

"I need to speak to Mr. Lucius Fox please, it's urgent." Chloe said into the pay phone. She has been lucky enough to find someone willing to give her enough change for a phone call.

"May I ask who is calling please?"

"Tara Gregg." It was one of the many alias' Chloe had come up with for emergency uses.

"Hold please, I'll connect you to his office." Came the automatic reply.

She breathed a sigh of relief. You could never be too sure with the receptionists. Sometimes they chose to get ornery and refuse to transfer the call to someone as high up as Lucius, but she knew she'd never get through if she asked for Bruce. Hopefully Lucius would be able to get in contact with him quickly.

As she listened to the hold music her thoughts drifted to the day before when Jason had 'rescued' her. She 'owed' him. Hah! The sadist had hit her hard enough to keep her unconsious for the rest of the day! She owed him an ass whooping.

Just as she was thinking of all the ways she would repay the favor the phone clicked as it was picked up. "Fox speaking," came over the phone.

"Lucius, It's Chloe, I need your help."

It took little convincing to get Lucius to believe it was really her. He knew Bruce was worried and agreed to meet Chloe at the coffee kiosk outside Wayne Enterprises. She heaved a sigh of relief. Hopefully she would be home soon and could work on planning her revenge, not just on Jason, but Tommy Elliott. The bastard had another thing coming if he thought he could kidnap and threaten her and get away with it.

She also had to work out what the hell his deal was, he must have had some sort of plan going into this situation, but what was it. Why was he masquerading as Red Hood. And for that matter, what was Jason's purpose here in Gotham? She had a lot to work through and the sooner she got back to her watchtower, the happier she'd be.

As she approached the coffee stand she didn't see Lucius standing there, she became a little wary. The only person besides the barista was a tall dark-haired man, for a second she was worried it was Tommy or Jason, but then the man turned around and she saw who it was.

"Dick!" She yelled ecstatically! As she raced towards him. He looked up and saw her and smiled and open his arms.

As his arms closed around her he said, "Oh Chloe. We were so worried about you. I'm sorry Bruce and the others couldn't be here to greet you, but, well, you know..."

She nodded her head from where it was planted on her chest. She didn't realize how scared she had been until she had folded herself up into his arms. She took a deep breath and looked up at him.

"I know Dick. Thanks for meeting me." she replied.

He looked down at her with a worried and critical air as he steered her toward the street where a waiting car had Alfred in the front seat.

As they settled into the car he turned to her and said, "Now. Tell me what happened? You've been gone for almost a month. Everyone has been worried sick. We couldn't find a trace of you, it was like you had disappeared. All you left was a note at Watchtower that you were going to follow-up on a lead you got concerning Red Hood. Then nothing! Babs couldn't find you on any security footage and your comm had been destroyed.

Between Oliver and Bruce the rest of the team has been run ragged looking for you and dealing with the Yellow Lanterns. I've alerted the rest of the team and they're waiting at Watchtower for you."

"It's a long story Dick, and I'd rather only tell it once. Do you think you can wait till we get topside? I'll tell you all everything. And you may want to alert Barbara that Hush is back and he's masquerading as Jason." Chloe told him.

She looked over at his shocked expression and sighed. It was going to be a long night.

fin.

AN: Well, that's it. I didn't want to keep dragging this one on and on. I am planning a sequel, so you all can find out what the deal with Hush is and what Jason is going to want in return for saving Chloe. I hope you aren't disappointed in the ending. Thanks so much for reading!


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